Why social transformation is not a job for the market Published on openDemocracy (http://www.opendemocracy.net) Why social transformation is not a job for the market Michael Edwards, 26th January 2010 Subjects: openEconomy [1] openEconomy [2] Equality [3] Economics [4] Civil society [5] Philanthropy [6] Michael Edwards [7] Michael Edwards introduces his new book, "Small change, Why business won't change the world" [8] About the author Michael Edwards is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos: A Network for Ideas and Action, in New York, and the author of Small Change: Why Business Won't Save the World. He was formerly a director at the Ford Foundation. His website is www.futurepositive.org [9] In 2007, I experienced one of those fork-in-the-road moments that seem to occur when you least expect them. It was another day at the office, sifting through e-mails in the Ford Foundation’s glass palace in Manhattan, where I worked as one of the organization’s six directors. As usual, half of my inbox was filled by advertisements for books, conferences, and consultants promising to solve society’s problems by bringing the magic of the market to nonprofits and philanthropy — the masters of the universe, it seemed, also wanted to be saviors of the world — and the other half was filled by complaints from those experiencing the negative consequences of doing exactly that. [8]It suddenly struck me that this was more than a simple clash of cultures — it had potentially profound implications for the success of our efforts to transform the world in the image of love and justice. And in the rush to embrace new approaches to philanthropy, some very important older questions were in danger of being buried under hype and adulation — questions of deep social change and social transformation, of democracy versus plutocracy, and of people’s willingness to work together on common problems as full and equal citizens, not as clients or consumers. This is not an anti-business or anti-market argument. Any successful recipe for social transformation must include a wellfunctioning market economy that creates wealth — broadly distributed throughout the population — and fosters technological innovation, directed at socially useful ends. When business puts its own house in order in this way, it can have an enormously positive impact by increasing the social and environmental value of the goods and services it produces, improving the Page 1 of 3
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Why social transformation is not a job for the market
Published on openDemocracy (http://www.opendemocracy.net)
Why social transformation is not a job for the market
Michael Edwards, 26th January 2010
Subjects:
openEconomy [1]
openEconomy [2]
Equality [3]
Economics [4]
Civil society [5]
Philanthropy [6]
Michael Edwards [7]
Michael Edwards introduces his new book, "Small change, Why business won't change the
world" [8]
About the author
Michael Edwards is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos: A Network for Ideas and Action, in New
York, and the author of Small Change: Why Business Won't Save the World. He was formerly a
director at the Ford Foundation. His website is www.futurepositive.org [9]
In 2007, I experienced one of those fork-in-the-road moments that seem to occur when you least
expect them. It was another day at the office, sifting through e-mails in the Ford Foundation’s glass
palace in Manhattan, where I worked as one of the organization’s six directors. As usual, half of my
inbox was filled by advertisements for books, conferences, and consultants promising to solve
society’s problems by bringing the magic of the market to nonprofits and philanthropy — the
masters of the universe, it seemed, also wanted to be saviors of the world — and the other half was
filled by complaints from those experiencing the negative consequences of doing exactly that.
[8]It suddenly struck me that this was more than a simple clash of
cultures — it had potentially profound implications for the success of our efforts to transform the
world in the image of love and justice. And in the rush to embrace new approaches to philanthropy,
some very important older questions were in danger of being buried under hype and adulation —
questions of deep social change and social transformation, of democracy versus plutocracy, and of
people’s willingness to work together on common problems as full and equal citizens, not as clients
or consumers.
This is not an anti-business or anti-market argument. Any successful recipe for social transformation
must include a wellfunctioning market economy that creates wealth — broadly distributed
throughout the population — and fosters technological innovation, directed at socially useful ends.
When business puts its own house in order in this way, it can have an enormously positive impact by
increasing the social and environmental value of the goods and services it produces, improving the